Currently, the Rhode Island Department of Health (RIDOH) has a database, called Kidsnet, and your child’s information is there forever without your consent. This database has all RI resident minor children enrolled in it, and it’s likely you’ve never heard of it. Why is that?

First, it is a robust database tracking things well beyond what you may want tracked, and leave you wondering why such a database needs to be held within the RIDOH.

For instance, it records who lives in the home with the child, and it also tracks blood specimen from birth. Since when is a signature or voluntary consent not needed for DNA data storage? It tracks if you’ve ever enrolled in programs like WIC or Early Intervention.

Mothers may be especially unimpressed to find out that they are tracking if the child was born vaginally, or by c-section. A mother’s level of education, and whether or not the mother was married at time of time of birth are fields in this database.

Is this the kind of data tracking that we want to happen without our consent or approval?

The icing on the cake to this Kidsnet is you cannot delete the file. RIDOH will not remove it regardless of your request. You may only block your child’s file— so that only the RIDOH can see it, and not other signed in accounts.

RIDOH will continue to track and look at your file, while your objections fall on deaf ears. Want to block your file? Well, they go out of their way to make that inconvenient. You need to call the RIDOH then have your doctor witness you signing a form in their office.

We are in the 21st century, using complex databases tracking data without consent, and yet you can not use a online portal or notarized letter to request that our children’s information is blocked. According to the RIDOH, we must call then wait to sign at doctors office to block our child’s data. An electronic file that we should be able to have completely removed and deleted from the system.

Legislation H5541 has been introduced this year, and has a hearing date scheduled for Mar 13th at Rhode Island State House. This legislation expands the Kidsnet database to all adults in RI as part of the National Adult Immunization Plan.

It renames the database Rhode Island Child and Adult Immunization Registry (RICAIR). This database will be set to automatically enroll all adults residing in the Ocean State. This expansion of data mining without consent will now be for every Rhode Island resident no matter the age. When RI has an inflated budget that over spends beyond our revenue, why are we even considering putting more tax dollars to bureaucratic control for something we don’t have an actual need for especially considering the recent UHIP disaster.

National Adult Immunization Plan is an actual plan from HHS, and Goal 3 is increase community demand for adult vaccinations. Goal 4 Foster innovation in adult vaccine development and vaccination-related technologies. This database bill falls into that plan. Do you feel you need multiple more vaccines as an adult? Just a few weeks ago the FDA approved the HPV vaccine to be expanded to age 45, do you want to be bugged about getting a HPV vaccine? There seems to be a pattern with RI Dept of Health, moving forward with choices that are dollar driven and not driven by a need or want of the RI residents. Rhode Island does not have epidemics for anything a vaccine is available for.

If you don’t want to be automatically enrolled in a government database that you can not delete your file from then please oppose bill H5541. Please attend the hearing at 4:00pm on Wednesday at the Rhode Island State House. Citizens are encouraged to testify in person in room 101 or submit written testimony to the committee.

Aimee Gardiner is the Director of RI Against Mandated HPV Vaccines #NoHPVmandateRI. They work to reverse the HPV vaccine mandate in RI and to advocate for informed consent. She can be reached at Aimee@NOHPVmandateRI.com.

Nice bait and switch.. The NAIP refers to the recommended adult vaccination schedule – for HPV that is not recommended after age 26 (and even 21-26 is based upon certain risk factors). HHS has not made any decision about HPV adult vaccinations other than what’s already in the schedule even though it did approve the use through age 45.

The current bill as drafted allows for opt out by adults.

Kind of vague on the DNA tracking point.. The law allows for opt out against initial blood screening. The blood if allowed to be screened is sent to a lab and only the results – not the blood or DNA – are sent to DOH. I respect if parents don’t want that – but there are significant negative externalities associated with things like lead poisoning.

Maybe you long for the days when infant mortality rates were much higher due to preventable diseases?

You raise some fair points about the amount, access, and control of personal data – just like many other government (or private sector) maintained data bases that contain PII or sensitive information. Linking those to your personal agenda about HPV vaccination – well, you lost me there.

And as a taxpayer who wants some accountability for the way government spends taxes, I don’t find it totally unreasonable to demand of WIC/SNAP beneficiaries some accounting that their children are, well, actually being fed and gaining appropriate weight. We demand progress reports on the money we spend on public education – why no less for things like welfare?

i can see the argument against the need to expand the data base to adults – but spare us the government chasing you down to get HPV vaccine reason.